Geoffrey Lawrence
Research Director, Reason Foundation
Geoffrey Lawrence is research director at Reason Foundation.
Lawrence has been a financial executive in both the public and private sectors and has served as chief financial officer of publicly traded, growth stage, and startup manufacturing and distribution companies. He was CFO of Players Network, the first fully reporting, publicly traded marijuana licensee to be listed on a U.S. exchange, CFO of C Quadrant, a startup manufacturer and distributor that was subsequently sold to Lowell Farms (LOWL), CFO of Apex Extractions, a manufacturer and distributor based in Oakland that he helped take public, and, most recently, CFO of Claybourne Co., a top-3 flower brand in California by market share. Through these roles, Lawrence raised capital, planned capital expenditure, prepared financial forecasts, implemented systems for accounting and inventory control, designed internal control processes, managed monthly and quarterly closings and reporting, managed compliance with state and local regulations, negotiated contracts, and prepared filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Lawrence also served as a senior appointee to the Nevada Controller’s Office, where he oversaw the state’s external financial reporting. Prior to joining Reason Foundation in 2018, Lawrence had also spent a decade as a policy analyst on labor, fiscal, and energy issues between North Carolina’s John Locke Foundation and the Nevada Policy Research Institute.
Lawrence is additionally the founder and president of an accounting and advisory firm with particular expertise in the licensed cannabis industry and public markets.
Lawrence holds an M.S. and B.S. in accounting from Western Governors University, an M.A. in international economics from American University, and a B.A. in international relations from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. He lives in Las Vegas with his wife and two children and enjoys baseball and mixed martial arts.
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Be Worried About the Economic Costs COVID-19 and Shutdowns Are Having on Workers and Small Businesses
It’s very plausible that the coronavirus pandemic could trigger a global depression.
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Governments Eliminate Burdensome Marijuana Regulations in Response to Coronavirus Crisis
Regulators have quickly enacted some changes that make it easier for medical patients and recreational consumers alike to purchase marijuana without coming into close contact with large groups of people.
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Illinois’ Legal Marijuana Shortage Will Continue Until Original Legislation Is Fixed
Since the state legislature chose to specify many details into statute rather than through rule-making, it will take additional legislative action to make the necessary corrections.
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Detroit Continues to Drag Its Feet on Legalized Marijuana
The Detroit City Council should lean heavily on the already extensive regulation developed by state authorities and seek to pass a simple regulatory framework to license adult-use marijuana.
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Marijuana Taxation and Black Market Crowd-Out
Tax rates that elevate the price of legal marijuana significantly above black market prices prolong the presence of illegal markets and reduce government tax receipts.
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Gov. Newsom’s Much-Needed Call to Simplify California’s Marijuana Taxes and Regulations
Reducing the regulatory burden would be a big step in the right direction. Next up: lowering cannabis taxes.
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LAO Report: California’s Taxes and Rules Mean Legal Marijuana Can’t Compete With Black Market Prices
"Even if the state eliminated its cannabis taxes entirely, other costs— such as regulatory compliance costs and local taxes—likely would keep legal cannabis prices higher than illicit market prices.”
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Michigan Tries to Force Marijuana Businesses to Reach Labor Peace Agreements
There is a long series of legal precedents demonstrating that Gov. Whitmer’s proposed rule is unconstitutional.
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PG&E’s Settlement Won’t Fix Its Problems and Consumers Deserve Choices
Routine power outages and rolling blackouts appear to be Californians’ new normal for at least another decade.
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Nevada’s Pharmaceutical Disclosure Law Could Cause Drug Prices to Climb Even Higher
Nevada could be driving out smaller companies and reducing competition, which could lead to higher prices.
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Michigan’s Marijuana Regulation Efforts Could Become a Model for Other States
Michigan was able to process and approve its first marijuana license application within 43 minutes.
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Nevada’s Flawed Marijuana Licensing Process Leads to Corruption and Lawsuits
Nevada’s mishandling of marijuana licensing is sadly the predictable result of a flawed regulatory structure and is likely to be repeated elsewhere.
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Marijuana Industry Financial Services: The Obstacles and the Policy Solutions
Denying marijuana-related businesses the legitimate financial services available to other businesses prevents oversight, facilitates illegal sales, and may allow these businesses to conceal tax liabilities.
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New Survey: Teen Marijuana Use Is Not Increasing, Even As More States Legalize
National surveys on drug use indicate an overall decline in teen marijuana use over the past several years.
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Progressive California Lags on Legalizing CBD
Economically and entrepreneurially, California now risks being left behind.
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A Comparison of the Proposed Hemp Programs in North Carolina and Florida
As more states explore hemp programs, they will look to early states as examples. So it’s important that the first states get it right.
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Michigan’s Marijuana Regulators Are Running Ahead of Schedule
Michigan is also pioneering a new data-sharing platform to allow banks and credit unions to perform enhanced due diligence on marijuana businesses that apply for accounts with them.
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Comparing Illinois’ Draft Legislation to Legalize Marijuana to Reason’s Conceptual Framework
In some ways, Senate Bill 7 in Illinois would create an overly regulated and restrictive cannabis marketplace that substitutes inflexible bureaucratic directive for entrepreneurial judgment and initiative.
